About Zizania aquatica L.
Wild rice, which is also known by names including manoomin, mnomen, psíŋ, Canada rice, Indian rice, and water oats, refers to both the four grass species that make up the genus Zizania, and the grain harvested from these plants. Historically, and still today, the grain is gathered and eaten in North America; it is also used to a lesser degree in China, where the plant's stem is eaten as a vegetable. Wild rice and domesticated rice (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) belong to the same botanical tribe, Oryzeae. Wild rice grains have a chewy outer sheath, a tender inner grain, and a slightly vegetal flavor. These plants grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; in most cases, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water surface. The grain is eaten by dabbling ducks and other aquatic wildlife. Wild rice seeds can be infected by the highly toxic fungus ergot, which is dangerous if consumed. Infected grains display pink or purplish blotches or fungal growths that range in size from that of a seed to several times larger. The two annual species most commonly harvested for their grain are Zizania palustris and Zizania aquatica. While Zizania palustris is now domesticated and grown commercially, it is still often gathered from lakes in the traditional way, especially by indigenous peoples in North America; Zizania aquatica was also widely used in the past. The interior of the plant's stems and root shoots is also edible. In North America, Native American harvesters typically collect wild rice by paddling a canoe into a stand of the plants, then bending the ripe grain heads with two small wooden poles or sticks called knockers or flails to thresh the seeds into the canoe. One person knocks the rice into the canoe while the other paddles slowly or uses a push pole. Harvesters do not beat the plants with the knockers; only a gentle brushing is needed to dislodge mature grain. Some seeds fall to the muddy lake or stream bottom and germinate later in the year. The size of knockers and other harvest details are regulated by state and tribal law; under Minnesota statute, knockers must be at most 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, 30 inches (76 cm) long, and 1 pound (450 g) in weight. Several Native American cultures, such as the Ojibwe, consider wild rice a sacred part of their culture. The Ojibwe people call the plant manoomin (written ᒪᓅᒥᓐ in their script), which translates to 'harvesting berry' and is commonly rendered as 'good berry'. In 2018, the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe granted manoomin specific rights (sometimes compared to rights of nature or granting it legal personhood), including the right to exist and flourish. In August 2021, the Ojibwe filed a lawsuit on behalf of wild rice to block the Enbridge Line 3 oil sands pipeline, which threatens the plant's habitat. Recorded tribes that historically harvested Zizania aquatica include the Dakota, Menominee, Meskwaki, Ojibwe, Cree, Omaha, Ponca, Thompson, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago). Native groups that used Zizania palustris are the Ojibwe, Ottawa/Odawa and Potawatomi. Preparation methods among these groups varied: wild rice grains could be stewed with venison stock, maple syrup, or both; used as a stuffing for wild birds; or steamed to make sweets such as puffed rice, or rice pudding sweetened with maple syrup. For these groups, the wild rice harvest is an important cultural and often economic event. The Omǣqnomenēwak tribe takes its name, as well as the name Omanoominii used for them by neighboring Ojibwa, from this plant. Many places across Illinois, Indiana, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin are named after wild rice, including Mahnomen, Minnesota, and Menomonie, Wisconsin; many lakes and streams also bear names like 'Rice', 'Wildrice', 'Wild Rice', or 'Zizania'. Since the early 1900s, anthropologists have studied wild rice as a food source, with a particular focus on harvest of this aquatic plant in the Lake Superior region by the Anishinaabe people, also called Chippewa and Ojibwe. In 1901, the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology published Albert Ernest Jenks' work *The Wild Rice Gatherers in the Upper Great Lakes: A Study in American Primitive Economics*. In addition to conducting fieldwork and interviewing members of various tribal communities, Jenks reviewed accounts from explorers, fur traders, and government agents dating from the early 1600s to the late 1800s. He documented an aboriginal economic activity that is absolutely unique, in which no tool used was developed outside of aboriginal design and craft. Jenks' study also noted wild rice's importance during the fur-trading era, as the region would have been nearly inaccessible without wild rice and its ability to be stored for long periods. Even with the availability of more easily obtained food sources, wild rice remains socially and economically important for the Anishinaabe and other tribal groups in the northern woods into the present day.
